Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine

Dr Michael Smout obtained his BSc from the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia and his PhD from UQ/Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR). His research interests have included melanoma, childhood viral infections and most recently parasitic helminths of humans. His expertise focus is the proteins secreted by parasitic helminths and those that facilitate their parasitic existence. His work has taken him to a range of locations, including 2 years at George Washington University working with the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation before relocating back to Queensland in 2004. For the past decade Dr Smout’s research has focused primarily on the search for carcinogenic molecules from the secretions of the human liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrinni - one of only three carcinogenic eukaryotic pathogens. His major scientific achievements include firstly, the identification of the parasite-derived growth factor, granulin, a protein that supercharges wound healing but establishes a tumorigenic environment in the liver of infected patients. Secondly, the creation of the xWORM assay, a novel objective parasitic worm viability monitoring method. This method is a vital step when screening for new drug treatments or drug resistance in a range of devastating parasitic worms.

With a creative flair for presenting he has won a range of science and general public presentation events since his northern migration to the Queensland Tropical Health Alliance laboratories at James Cook University in Cairns. At a national level he won the “best pitch” in the 2012 Australian Trailblazer innovation competition and the 2014 Australian Famelab public presentation competition with 3 minutes that included eviscerating a teddy bear. This led to representing Australia at the International Famelab in the United Kingdom. His new position in Northern Australia has allowed his love of parasitic worm venom to now include anything tropical and toxic, including scorpions, stonefish and the world’s most venomous creature, the Australian sea wasp, also known as the big box jelly(fish).

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Long term infection with liver fluke - a food-borne parasitic worm - leads to cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a form of liver cancer with a dismal prognosis.
Previously we identified proteins and vesicles from these parasites that may cause this cancer.
This new project will investigate the roles of these parasite proteins and vesicles in cancer, which may lead to new treatments and control for fluke infection and CCA

Queensland Museum - Research Grant

?Probably Science? live podcast tour

Indicative Funding

$2,000

Summary

We are proposing a Queensland live tour of the popular podcast ?Probably Science? featuring local scientists in Feburary 2019. ?PROBABLY SCIENCE? is a weekly comedy/science podcast with American comedian co-hosts Andy Wood and Matt Kirshen, both with STEM university degrees. The show focuses on the latest science with a light comedic atmosphere that imparts knowledge and humanises the research and researchers. The shows open with short performances from comedians alternating with local younger scientists. Then the main show involves the hosts and a featured senior researcher from a local University in a panel type discussion around the scientist?s expertise.

Investigators

Michael Smout
(Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine)

Keywords

Public engagement; Queensland; comedy; Engaging Science; podcast

Merchant Charitable Foundation - Donation

Pre-clinical development of a liver fluke growth factor for treating non-healing wounds

Indicative Funding

$300,000 over 2 years

Summary

This research proposal aims to develop more effective treatments for wound healing, improving treatment options for diabetic patients in Australia and eventually worldwide. This is likely to alleviate suffering from the disease and also decrease the AUD$3.6 billion financial burden of diabetic wound ulcers on the healthcare system. Although we showed that the liver fluke granulin protein has wound healing properties, it is difficult to produce in recombinant form. We have now developed a minimized version of granulin and produce it as a synthetic peptide that when applied topically displays wound-healing properties as potent as the full-length protein. Using the peptide as a topical agent is ideal because it capitalizes on the potency and specificity often associated with peptide-based drugs but does not require the high levels of bioavailability necessary for orally administered drugs. Our research will also provide advances in the field regarding the structure and folding of Ov-GRN-1, which will be of significant interest to researchers working specifically on growth factors and more broadly for those working on disulphide-rich peptides and proteins. Moreover, we believe that our decision to be guided in drug discovery by millennia of host-parasite coevolution will ensure that the most efficacious and safe drugs are identified and developed.

Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation - Research Award

Exploring new treatments for box jellyfish envenomation

Indicative Funding

$25,000

Summary

The best medical treatment for big box jellyfish envenoming is uncertain. To improve future treatments, we will explore the cardiotoxic mechanisms of the venom and screen for new drug and antivenom treatments using our hi-throughput real-time cardiomyocyte (heart muscle cell) assay.

Dr Michael Smout obtained his BSc from the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia and his PhD from UQ/Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR). His research interests have included melanoma, childhood viral infections and most recently parasitic helminths of humans. His expertise focus is the proteins secreted by parasitic helminths and those that facilitate their parasitic existence. His work has taken him to a range of locations, including 2 years at George Washington University working with the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation before relocating back to Queensland in 2004. For the past decade Dr Smout’s research has focused primarily on the search for carcinogenic molecules from the secretions of the human liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrinni - one of only three carcinogenic eukaryotic pathogens. His major scientific achievements include firstly, the identification of the parasite-derived growth factor, granulin, a protein that supercharges wound healing but establishes a tumorigenic environment in the liver of infected patients. Secondly, the creation of the xWORM assay, a novel objective parasitic worm viability monitoring method. This method is a vital step when screening for new drug treatments or drug resistance in a range of devastating parasitic worms.